Alabaster DePlume is a Manchester-born, London-based bandleader, composer, saxophonist, activist and orator. He’s a resident at the legendary London creative hub Total Refreshment Centre, a recording artist for the off-grid, Scottish Hebridean island label Lost Map, and now the latest arrival into Chicago-based International Anthem’s growing family of progressive musical explorationists. The music of his 2020 release “To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1” contains naturally elegant orchestration wrapped around something visceral and primordial, combining new compositions alongside bygone instrumentals and understated lullabies that feel like they’ve been picked from between the cracks of civilisation. DePlume’s politics might be more evident in vocal songs from his live repertoire when he’s reshaping advertising slogans into a call to arms or encouraging activism on “I Was Gonna Fight Fascism,” but his commitment to the cause is as palpable through the instrumentals of Cy & Lee… This is music designed to respond to what Russian revolutionary poet Mayakovsky described as a “social command.” “I like the idea that we’re not just doing frivolous decoration. We’re doing work for society. I like to listen for what needs to be said.” – Excerpt taken from “To Cy & Lee: Instrumentals Vol. 1” liner notes by Emma Warren.

The Guardian 2020